Social Science Resources for the SMARTBoard

Free Rice -**http://freerice.com/** - Need to sharpen your vocabulary skills? Why not fight world hunger at the same time. Students are presented with a word. Below the word is a list of four options to choose. Students must select the word that is synonymous with the vocabulary word. For each word you guess correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated to the World Food Programme. Change subjects, and students can compete in categories such as Chemistry, Art, Math, and Geography.

History for Music Lovers - http://www.youtube.com/user/historyteachers#p/u/39/bQ8A5gRe_Dw - Thanks to iLearn Technology, I ran across this YouTube channel that transforms history tales into stylistic videos using modern music. A great amount of work went into creating these videos and they are a geeky but cool way to get kids interested in World History topics. The vids also work great for English Lit. Present topics on the French Revolution, Leonardo Da Vinci, Beowulf, or the Spanish Inquisition in a relatable way for teens.

Bayeux Tapestry Maker - http://www.adgame-wonderland.de/type/bayeux.php - Are you teaching about the middle ages? With a unit on the middle ages, it is sometimes hard to find activities to gain their interest. This tapestry maker is a great way to get kids involved in a hands-on activity related to your unit. With a complete gallery of images and a text editor, students can make their own tapestry in their own style. This is the perfect way to create a tie between your unit on the middle ages and today. Have students create a tapestry to tell a story about their school or club.

History Pin - http://www.historypin.com/ - Probably the most fun site I have found for History teachers yet. This site allows you to create an account and post pictures from the past by location. Browse the map and see how things looked in the past. Browse for pictures of your hometown or school. See the Grand Canyon in the 1900s. This is a great resource for generating discussion or helping kids put history into a whole new perspective. History Pin has a short video to let you know more about how they work. You can view it below.

Nobel Prize Educational Games - http://nobelprize.org/educational/ - I have featured one game from this site before (the Blood Typing Game for Science) but felt that because there was so much more to offer on their site, I had to include it here. Many of the games on Nobel Prize can be played on an IWB, but some may require use of the arrow keys on your keyboard, so check them before use. A few games that stand out for the Social Science classroom are Pavlov's Dog and Democracies in the World. Check out their Science titles as well.

Birmingham Grid for Learning - http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/15.cfm?s=15&p=252,index - The resources on this site are too numerous to mention, so I provided a link to everything. You'll find resources for every level and nearly every subject. All of these items are interactive and provide a drag and drop or "click to learn" feature. Check out the link for your subject area, find something you like. There's something for everyone.

Today's Document - http://todaysdocument.com/ - Not an interactive piece, but very cool nonetheless. Today's Document is a website that takes headlines from the past and turns them into daily cartoons on historical topics. Each cartoon frames topics from the past in a manner that is easily understood by students. Byline articles to the side explain the history behind each cartoon. Save the link and return each day for a new document. Great for American History.

The Presidential Seal - http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/5a2a.html - This interactive tool takes a look at the Presidential Seal and explains the symbolism behind the seal. When the lesson is over, you can color the presidential seal with your own color theme and print it out.

The Vote and the Voting Machine - http://www.objectofhistory.org/objects/intro/votingmachine - Take a historical look at the right to vote. This interactive tool contains a video outlining the history of American voting, suffrage, and civil rights. Take a look at a voting machine in the virtual object.

Lunch Counter Protests - http://www.objectofhistory.org/objects/intro/lunchcounter - Learn about the North Carolina lunch counter protests of 1960. Take a look at the early history of the Civil Rights era, as well as a virtual look at the lunch counter itself. An introductory video discusses Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, and segregation.

The Price of Freedom - http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/exhibition/flash.html - This interactive timeline acts as a portal to the history behind every American conflict from the Revolutionary War to the conflicts in the Middle East. Click on an era and learn about the causes and effects of the conflict. Students can also take a virtual peek at some of the artifacts from each war. This is a very rich and informative interactive tool.

Critical Past - http://www.criticalpast.com/ - Critical Past is a service that offers millions of videos and photos from eras dating back to the 1890s. Each video and photo is available for viewing for free on the Critical Past website. This is a very easy site to navigate and may have something worth showing in your History class. My favorites are the videos on American culture and trends of the past. Students never really get a great grasp on how culturally different time periods are in comparison to today. The era with the greatest amount of resources on this site is the 1940s - great for covering WWII. Each photo and video is available for purchase if you wish to buy them.

Stop Disasters - http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/en/home.html- This interactive game takes about 15-20 minutes to complete and has a "SimCity" look and feel to it. Students are put to the challenge of stopping a disaster such as a tsunami, earthquake, flood, wildfire, or hurricane. Once you enter the game, you are given a budget to work with and you have just minutes to build or implement measures to lessen the impact of the impending disaster. Fund game and helps kids think more critically of what needs to be done to avert disaster. Sorry, no oil spills:) - Found on the iLearn Technology blog.

Growth of a Nation - http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html- This flash animation shows a map of North America starting in 1790. When you push play, an animation begins listing major events and changes in US borders as you progress through time. There is a free version and a paid version of this file. I recommend downloading the free version with the Firefox extension DownloadHelper and adding it to your Notebook page.

AmeriQuake - http://www.mrnussbaum.com/ameriquake.htm- Ameriquake tests your US Geography skills. Identify states on the map by dragging and dropping them. You can do 5, 10, or 20 at a time, or you can take the challenge to test over all 50. Print a personalized certificate of achievement at the end.

Conquer the Continents - http://www.mrnussbaum.com/concon.htm - How well do you know your world geography? Can you identify the countries of the world at-a-glance? This interactive game puts students to the test on any country on any continent. This is just one game found on Mr. Nussbaum.com.

The Road to the Capitol - http://www.nationalmockelection.org/game/- Flash-based game that walks kids through a mock election. Students begin by getting into the hot seat as a candidate for Congress. Then they will learn the ins and outs of the election process from campaigning to important election topics. Teachers and parents can download a game guide as a reference tool.

iCivics - http://www.icivics.org/ - Flash based modules that engages students in games to learn more about branches of power, the supreme court, executive command, rights, the constitution and more. The site also includes teacher resources such as lesson plans, overhead transparencies, notetaking templates, and PowerPoint presentations.

Jamestown Adventure -**http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/** - This online adventure game is short, but it walks students throught decisions that settlers of the 1600s would make when settling the New World. Great game to get the point across.

"We Didn't Start the Fire"-http://yeli.us/Flash/Fire.html - Cool flash video featuring Billy Joel's song of the same title. Nice use of historical media and clip art to make the song more fun. Really puts the song and history in context for those younger listeners.

The History Channel - http://www.history.com/ - The History Channel is always a valuable resource for providing rich interactive content on a variety of historical topics. Check back during the holidays for added content.

US Holocaust Memorial Museum - http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/ - Online Exhibit from the USHMM. Find interactive resources and flash video files from several primary sources. Experience the Holocaust throught the eyes and stories of those who survived the Holocaust.